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250 Scudi
| Issuer | Sacro Monte della Pietà di Roma |
|---|---|
| Year | 1788 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | 250 Scudi |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Typeset letterpress text on plain paper within a decorative engraved border of repeated guilloche-style ornamental units. The issuer's name 'S. MONTE DELLA PIETÀ DI ROMA' is set in large display type at centre, with the date 'SETTE GENNARO MILLE SETTECENTO OTTANTOTTO' above it. The denomination '250' appears in a ruled cartouche at top centre, and the payable amount 'Duecentocinquanta' is highlighted in a separate ornamental panel mid-note, with manuscript register number, handwritten signatures, and endorsement notations visible throughout. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Log in to see details |
| Reverse lettering | 250 |
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| Comments |
The Sacro Monte della Pietà di Roma was one of the oldest pious credit institutions in Europe, established in the sixteenth century to provide low-interest loans against pledged collateral — a direct counter to usury practices the Church was actively suppressing. By the late eighteenth century it functioned as a de facto bank for the Papal States, and its fedi di credito, of which this is one, circulated as transferable credit instruments rather than state-issued currency in the modern sense.
The 250 Scudi denomination placed this squarely in the hands of merchants and institutions, not ordinary Romans. Transfer was effected by endorsement on the reverse — many surviving examples carry multiple manuscript endorsements, each one a transaction record.